Overall, 55 percent approve of California voters approve of the job being done by Jerry Brown as governor – his highest rating since he took office in 2011, according to the poll. Previous USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Polls showed him with 49 percent approval (September 2012) and 50 percent approval (June 2013). In the latest poll, 33 percent of voters disapprove of the job being done by Brown.

Across party registration, Brown has the highest rating from Democrats with 78-11 percent approval. Decline to State voters approve of his performance by 55-28 percent, while Republicans disapprove of his performance by 68-22 percent. By race, Brown’s job performance has strong ratings across the board. Brown has 67-9 percent approval from Black voters; 65-17 percent approval from Asian American voters; 61-20 percent approval from Latino voters; and 51-41 percent approval from White voters.

When queried on the direction of the state, 49 percent of California voters said they felt things have gotten pretty seriously on the wrong track, while 37 percent said things in California are going in the right direction.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans believe California is on the wrong track, while 11 percent say it is going in the right direction. Fifty percent of Decline to State voters say the state is on the wrong track, while 36 percent say it is headed in the right direction. Democrats are more optimistic: 57 percent believe the state is going in the right direction, and 27 percent say it is on the wrong track.

White voters were more likely to rate the direction of the state as on the wrong track (54 percent), compared to 35 percent who say it is headed in the right direction. Similarly, 46 percent of Latinos see the state as headed on the wrong track; 34 percent rate California as headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, 48 percent of Black voters and 48 percent of Asian American voters see the state as headed in the right direction, with 31 percent and 37 percent who feel it is on the wrong track, respectively.

“It’s impressive that Brown’s approval has increased at a time when perception of politicians are generally at historic lows,” said Drew Lieberman, vice president of Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, part of the bipartisan team with Republican polling firm American Viewpoint that conducted the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll.

“The government shutdown tends to reflect on all politicians at all levels, but I think Governor Brown has built some insulation from that. This data shows Brown with a strong foundation and a solid core, but also with some work left to do,” Lieberman said.

When voters were queried on whether or not they would re-elect Brown as governor of California in 2014, 32 percent said they would select Brown again for the job and 37 percent of voters said they would elect someone else.

In a further breakdown, 17 percent of voters said they would “definitely” re-elect Brown and 15 percent said they would “probably” re-elect him. In comparison, 27 percent of voters said they would “definitely” vote for someone else and 10 percent said they would “probably” voter for someone else. Twenty percent said their vote will depend on who a gubernatorial challenger is, and 10 percent were undecided.

“Jerry Brown has made less effort to establish a public media presence in California than any governor in almost a quarter of a century,” said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll and director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. “The result of that relatively low profile is that voters don’t leap to directly associate him with either specific public policy challenges or their broader concerns about the state. A Democratic governor in a Democratic state who hasn’t shut down the government or messed up Obamacare roll out is good enough.”

“When you compare Brown’s approval on specific issues it’s really unique to California, and it’s really driven more by California’s ideological leanings,” said David Kanevsky, research director of Republican polling firm American Viewpoint.

“Brown is negative on pocket book issues, such as the economy, jobs and taxes, but he’s strong on social and cultural issues such as the environment, energy and immigration. What’s keeping Brown afloat is the Democratic leanings in the state, specifically on issues that Democrats are really energized about like the environment and immigration,” Kanevsky said.

According to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, voters were most likely to attribute improvements in the state economy to national and international economic forces outside of anyone’s control (41 percent). Twenty-seven percent credited the legislature for coming together and working more efficiently, while 19 percent said it was a result of Brown’s policies.

Conversely, when asked what they felt was most responsible for the California economy not getting better, the top reason voters cited was dysfunction in the state legislature (46 percent). Twenty-nine percent said economic forces outside of anyone’s control were to blame and 15 percent credited Brown’s policies.

When read a pair of statements about Brown and the economy, voters were more likely to agree with the idea that Brown has laid the foundation for California’s economy to get back on track.

Forty-nine percent of Californians said they agreed more closely with the statement: “Brown cut billions in spending and made major reforms to state government. Now California could have a budget surplus for the first time in years, and we can get back to helping businesses grow and create jobs in local schools to create a stronger California.”

The second statement, which 42 percent of Californians agreed more closely with, said: “Governor Brown has had three years to solve California’s economic problems, but we’re still no better off than we were. He’s raised taxes to pay for government programs, and that his economic policies are preventing businesses from creating jobs. Brown has been more of the same in Sacramento, and we need a new direction to get the California’s economy back on track.”

Altogether, 32 percent of voters “strongly” agreed that Brown has created a strong economic foundation in the state, and 17 percent “not so strongly” agreed. In comparison, 32 percent said they “strongly” believe California needs a new direction, and 10 percent said they “not so strongly” agreed.

Overall, 50 percent of voters said they were hopeful about Brown and are still hopeful; 27 percent say they were never hopeful about Brown; and 17 percent say they were hopeful but have been disappointed by the governor.

When it comes to the state’s economy, 47 percent of Californians believe that it has already bottomed out and is starting to improve. In contrast, 27 percent say the economy has not yet bottomed out and has gotten worse, while 23 percent say it has reached the bottom and is not yet improving.

The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll was conducted from Oct. 30 – Nov. 5, 2013, by Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and Republican polling firm American Viewpoint. The full sample of 1,503 registered voters has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.

About the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll:The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is a series of statewide public opinion polls in California, designed to survey voter attitudes on a wide range of political, policy, social and cultural issues.

Conducted at regular intervals throughout the year, the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is one of the largest polls of registered voters in the state and has been widely cited, helping to inform the public and to encourage discourse on key political and policy issues.

About USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is the heart of the university. The largest, oldest and most diverse of USC’s 19 schools, USC Dornsife is composed of more than 30 academic departments and dozens of research centers and institutes. USC Dornsife is home to approximately 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and more than 750 faculty members with expertise across the humanities, social sciences and sciences.

About the Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of 2 million and 3 million on Sunday, and a combined print and interactive local weekly audience of 4.5 million. The fast-growing latimes.com draws over 10 million unique visitors monthly.